Park Beom-gye Reported to the Anti-Corruption Commission: "I Cannot Discuss Personnel Matters"

Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye is attending the Cabinet meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] On the 6th, Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, refrained from commenting on the report filed with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission by a current prosecutor who exposed allegations of travel ban on former Deputy Minister of Justice Kim Hak-ui, saying, "I cannot discuss specific details regarding personnel matters."

Minister Park made this remark as he left the government building after attending the Cabinet meeting that day.

According to legal circles, Minister Park was reported to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission on the 5th by a chief prosecutor A. Prosecutor A, recognized as a whistleblower by the Commission, submitted a report stating, "The demotion personnel action taken by the Minister of Justice constitutes a disadvantageous measure prohibited under the Whistleblower Protection Act."

In the report, A claimed, "The transfer to the Important Economic Crime Investigation Division, a non-regular post, against the will of the whistleblower who was serving as a regular prosecutor, constitutes a change of workplace and demotion against the individual's will."

In the mid-level prosecutor personnel reshuffle conducted at the end of last month, A, who was a senior chief prosecutor at a metropolitan prosecutor's office, was reassigned to the Important Economic Crime Investigation Division of another metropolitan prosecutor's office.

Meanwhile, Minister Park expressed discomfort over the delayed investigation by the Supreme Prosecutors' Office into the leak of the indictment against Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors' Office, who was indicted on charges of exerting undue influence in the investigation of former Deputy Minister Kim's illegal travel ban case.

He said, "Although I have emphasized this frequently, I have not received reports on how the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is proceeding, so I do not know the specific details yet," adding, "The delay itself gives the impression that the investigation is not going well, which makes me somewhat uncomfortable."

Regarding the joint inspection results on the perjury obstruction case related to former Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook's illegal political funds trial, he said, "It has been somewhat organized," and added, "I am considering whether to make the announcement myself." However, he added that the specific announcement schedule "does not seem to be this week."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.